This week we had the guest speaker Tyler Letkeman, who talked about various tech tools that he likes to use in the classroom, particularly when teaching English class. Tyler walked through how to use these tools in creative ways to get the students highly engaged in learning. I am not an English teacher, and have had very little exposure to it, so it was very interesting to learn about the different tech tools from someone who is currently teaching English. I appreciated the discussion on BookWright, and am quite interesting in looking into that option in more detail to find ways to introduce it into my future classroom. I also appreciated learning more about the use of Nearpod to engage students in conversation in a non-traditional manner. Overall, it was really nice to listen to Tyler’s sincere thoughts on technology, as well as the teaching profession in general.
One thing that stood out for me this week, was the frequent comments regarding the challenges of online learning for students. Students are feeling overwhelmed with the workload, as well as the learning curve as they transition to an online platform. As teachers, we are well aware of our own personal challenges with remote learning, but often we overlook the struggles faced by the students. It was refreshing to hear Tyler mention this, and the considerations taken to ensure the students’ well-being. Teachers need to be aware that learning something new takes time, so having to learn brand-new content, as well as a new learning platform, is quite challenging. Teachers cannot always expect students to get through as much course material as in-person classes. The number of assignments and tasks assigned may have to be reduced accordingly.
Furthermore, I think back to my own high school experiences. We did not have to submit course work daily. In fact, in many cases, if the teacher went on a tangent, or took advantage of a teachable moment that they students were interested in, sometimes we would go through entire classes without covering any “planned content”. Sometimes the in-person learning experience was in the form of a class conversation, which was just as valuable to learners, both for the social interaction component, as well as the non-curricular content. Teachers who are posting daily assignments for students to complete remotely are foolish in expecting the students to keep up with everything. Just think, if each teacher expected one assignment daily, that would be anywhere from 4-8 assignments in total (depending on the grade level and school). That is more than what is expected of me as a full-time university student, so there is no way that students in secondary school should have those kind of expectations.
In the face of this pandemic, it is important for teachers to be aware of their own employment expectations, and to focus on the what, when, and how to teach. But I would encourage all teachers to equally think about the expectations of the student, and how much they should reasonably be expected to learn. A school day is 6.5 hours, but not 6.5 hours of straight coursework. A typical day would be broken up by recesses, lunch hour, social interactions, small talk, off-topic discussions, and everything else that makes up the entire school experience.
Daniel, I appreciated your emphasis on how students are struggling through this pandemic just as much if not more than we are yet we tend to have high expectations of them anyways. I know that I myself have struggled with online learning myself. In order to attend class, I have to use a device that connects to the internet. Then after that I have to use the same device in order to do assignments. In part of my free time, I do Facetime/Zoom meetings with friends and family that I can't see due to the pandemic. This is a stressful time for everyone. At the end of the day, we want students to be healthy and well. That may mean lessoning the content we teach and spending more time doing activities that help our students live well. Like you mentioned, the typical school day is broken up with other activities so why should we expect our students to spend that amount of time on their computer completing assignments. Thanks again for the thoughtful post Daniel!
ReplyDeleteLike Alicia, I really appreciate your focus on the struggle students are having managing all the expectations on them. Perhaps sometimes we have our heads in the sand and don't consider what's going on for students outside our class. I think it's valuable to check in with students daily; take a pulse of the class. This could be done with a simple thumbs up/side/down ask, a quick online survey or slip, or through one-on-one conversations. If we understand how our students are doing, we are better equipped to set realistic expectations and respond according to their current level of capacity. If students are tired, hungry or feeling overwhelmed, powering through isn't doing anyone any good.
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